Car-fender.



No. 734,830. 7 4 "PATENTED JULY 2a, 1903 n. B. DIBBLE.

GAR FENDER.

JAPPLIOATION FILED D260. 8, 1902,

to MODEL.

INVENTOR V M. a 214% fly 4 f troit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan,.'

No. 734,836; i

Patented July as, 1903.

PATENT OFFI E.

DELOS B. DIBBLE, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CARHFENDTER;

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 734,830, dated J 111$ 28, 1903.

I Application filed December 8. 1902. Serial No. 134.244. (No model.)

To all whom it mcty concern: Be it known that I, DELOS B. DIBBLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dehave invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Fenders; and I declare the following tobe a full, clear, andjexact description of the invention, such as will enable th ers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to car-fenders, and

has for its object an improved fender adapted to be employed with street-cars and other cars in which the driver is stationed at the front, where he can see objects toward which the car is moving and where he can operate a mechanism to drop the fender and bring it tion, partly in section.

. der-actuatin g apparatus.

. in loops in the hangers.

into a position to catch and pick up an object which the car approaches, and thereby prevent the car from passing over the object.

In the drawings, Figure l'is a side eleva- Fig. 2 is a perspective of the standard which contains the fen- Fig. 3 is a perspec-- tive of the front part of the fender. Fig. 4 is a detail hinge connection.

A indicates the floor of the car, to which the fender is to be attached.

h h indicate hangers pivotally suspended from the floor and arranged tosupport the bar B, whichyprojects backward from the 1 basket part of the fender. The bar-B may be arranged to the hanger h h pivotally, as I indicated in Fig. 1, or it may be supported There are two bars B, and at their forward ends they support a lattice-work or basket-worker gridwork,

which constitutes the fender proper. In the drawings it is shown as a grid G, one part of which curves to correspond with the front of the car and extends'downward to a horizontal grid, which constitutes another part of the fender. The horizontal grid-G is normally carried parallel with and a shortdistance above the track; but because of the swinging of the car it cannot be placed close enough to the track to serve as a fender to pick up objects lying on the track that are not of considerable size, and such a grid so hung is liable to pass over an object even as large as a full-grown To the front horizontal part G of the fender is hinged an auxiliary fender 2. This is arectangular framework with grid or lattice work, and it is provided at each rear corner with an arm 2 which in the assembled device projects upward and is provided at its upper terminal with an eye 2. A brace 2 runs forward and beneath each arm to the front corner. At the extreme'front and beneath each corner there is a shoe 3. At the junction of the side bar of the front grid and the arm 2 is a hole 3 for the passage of a pintle-rod 3 and the pintle passes through knuckles formed at the front and at the corners of the part G of the rear part of the fender. A link 4 reaches from the upper end of the arm 2*, to which it is securedby a pin,

'a hollow post or standard 7. I The upper end of the link 6 extends above the post 7 and terminates with a hand-grip 6*. That part of the link 6 which lies within the post 7 and immediately above the car-floor A is provided with ratchet-teeth 6", in which engages a pawl 8. The pawl is supported on a stud 8", and the end of it projects to a position to be readily actuated by the foot of the driver of the car. Normally it is held under pressure and in contact with the ratchet-teeth by a spring 8*. The engaging end ofthe pawl projects through a slot in the. walls of the post 7 to make the contact. Through another slot 7 in the walls of the post 7 is inserted a footplate 6, that extends from the link 6 and projects through the slot 7 and is provided with a foot-rest, upon which the driver can place his foot for the purpose of holding the link down and holding the front or hinged part of the fender down to the track.

The entire fender is arranged to swing in the hangers h h. It is normally held for-- the pawl 8 with the link 6.

ward by a spring H, which engages with the floor of the car and with the hanger h and is put under tension when the fender swings backward. The link 6 is jointed, so that the upper part of it may have a vertical movement in the post 7 and the lower part of it may swing to correspond with the curved path of travel of the rear end of the arm 5.

The side bars and the middle bar of the front or dropping part of the fender are provided with rearward extensions 4, that reach under the corresponding bars on the part 9,

and as the auxiliary fender is dropped from its elevated position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) these close against the side bars and middle bar of the rear part of the fender and prevent thefront part from doubling too far down and from being bent back around the hinge under the rear part of the fender.

In action the front or folding part of the fender is carried in a horizontal line or with its front edge higher than its rear edge and is held in this position by the engagement of Whenever occasion' demands, however, this engagement is broken by the driver and the link 6 drops and the front part of the fender drops to an angle with the rear part until its front'edge comes closely down to the road-bed; but it is prevented from coming into immediate contact with the road-bed by the shoes 3,

which support it just above the road-bed.

The shoes 3 run on the track or on the roadbed, as may be thought best. When the fender is in this position, it will pass under and pick up any object that has fallen on the road-bed or that is on the road-bed and will preserve such object from the serious injury that'would happen to it should the fender pass over it, and especially the injury which would happen to it should the wheels of the car pass over it. g

It will be observed that the fender may be positively and. quickly operated in both directions from the platform of the car, so that it is not liable to stick and fail to work in an emergency.

What I claim is- 1. In combination with a car-fender, a dropping fender hinged to the front edge thereof, means upon the car-platform for operating the dropping fender and a rigid hinged connection between the dropping fender and the means for operatingit, whereby the dropping fender may be positively operated in both directions, substantially as described.-

2. In combination with acar-fender, a dropping fender hinged to the front edge thereof,

a movable piece upon thecarplatform, a rigid hinged connection between the dropping fender and said movable piece, and means for securing said movable piece at its various adjusted positions, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a car-fender, a dropping fender hinged to the front edge thereof, a rod adapted to reciprocate in guides on said platform, a ratchet on said rod, a pawl adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet, and an operating connection between said dropping fender and said rod, substantially as described.

4. In a car, a frame below said car secured thereto so as to be adapted to reciprocate longitudiuall y with reference to the car, a hinged fender secured to said frame, a linkwork upon said frame adapted to actuate said fender, a pivoted lever extending approximately at right angles to the motion of said frame and pivoted to said linkwork, and means for raising or lowering said lever from the platform of the car to actuate said linkwork, substantially as described. I 5. In a car, a frame below said carsecured thereto so as to be adapted to reciprocate 1ongitudinally with'reference to the car, a hinged fender secured to said frame, a linkwork upon said frame adapted to actuate said fender, a pivoted lever extending approximately at right angles to the motion of said frame and pivoted to'said linkwork, arod upon said platform adapted to be raised and lowered in guides, said lever being pivoted to said rod, means for retaining said rod at its different positions, and a pedal upon said rod, substantially as described.

6. In a car, a frame below said car and secured thereto so as to reciprocate longitudt nally with reference to the car, a hinged fender secured to said frame, a linkwork upon said frame adapted to actuate said fender, a lever extending approximately at right angles -to the motion of said frame and pivoted to said linkwork, a rod upon said platform adapted to be raised and lowered in guides,

In testimony whereof I sign this specificano tion in the presence of two witnesses.

DELOS B. DIBBLE.

' Witnesses:

CHARLES F. BURTON, MAY E. KOTT. 

